September 17, 2016

These two similar parts, one delayed by an eighth note, lean against each other and create something fundamentally new Mbira music is designed to be played on two dueling mbiras The kalimba, as most of us know it, is a new adaptation of the family of African lamellophones that includes the mbira and the karimba.  As such, the kalimba doesn’t really have a tradition in Africa.  This is the very reason I am attracted to the instrument. Without a specific African tradition, we are free to create our own new and evolving kalimba styles. On the extreme opposite end of the “tradition” spectrum from the modern kalimba is the mbira